Device for cleaning out channels



(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 1'.

M. M. LOONBY. DEVIQE FOR ULEANING OUT CHANNELS.

Patented Sept. 3', 1895.

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(No Modl.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. M, LOONEY. DEVICE FOR CLEANING OUT CHANNELS.

U T STAT S PATENT OF ICE.

MORRELL M. LOONEY, or LA- o'RossE, WISCONSIN.

DEVICE FQRCLEANING O'UT CHANNELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 545,602, datedSeptember 3, 1895. Application filed May 15, 1895. Serial No. 549,423.(No model.)

. nels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for deepening andstraightening navigable streams.

The special object of the invention is to so direct the fiowage of 'astream that the current is concentrated and turned toward a portion ofthe river so that its bed is scoured and washed out, thus deepening thechannel and straightening it, as may be desired, without obstructingnavigation during the operation. This result is attained by the use of apair of barges anchored in the river, with accompanying details, asdescribed in the following specification, referencebeing made to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of thebarge. Fig. 2 illustrates the arrangement of the barges with respect toeach other and to the current to get the desired results. Fig. 3 is across-section of the barge with the apron and spud raised. Fig. 4 is across-section of the barge anchored-by the spud, the apron being setdown into place as in use. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion ofthe apron, showing the guide and stifiener and frictionrollers. Fig. 6is a perspective view of a part of the barge with guide-posts and pulleyand the guide.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several parts. InFig. 1, a represents the barge, and b an 1ron apron suspended by ropesor chains 0 running over the pulleys din the guide-posts e. This ironapron is raised or lowered by means of the crabs or winches f. The finsg are hinged to the side of the barge which is opposite the iron apron,so that they are almost entirely submerged in the water and arecontrolled by the chain h running to the crab lo. When not in use, thesefins are swung back against the side of the barge.

The spuds Z are used to anchor and hold the barge in place in the centerof the river. They are raised and lowered by means of pinions m in thecrabs m, working into rack- Z. When it is desired to anchor the barge,the spuds are lowered until they reach the bottom of the river, when themotion is continued by means of the crabs m, which has a tendency toraise the barge upward, but by reason of its weight it only drives thespuds into the bed of the river, thus holding the barge securely inplace.

Fig. 4; shows the spud as it is when set into the bottom of the river. i

Fig. 6 shows a wrought-iron guide r, bolted to the side of the barge,through which the guide p on the'apron slides, and which as sists inholding the apron in its proper position and guides it as it is raisedand lowered. The friction-rollers o 0 (shown in Fig. 5) not only holdthe apron against the guide-posts, but help the motion of the apronby'reducing the friction as it slides up and down.

The method of operation is as follows: The barges, two in number, ormore, if necessary, are towed to a point in the river just above andadjacent to the place which is to be scoured and deepened. They areanchored by means of the spuds at the upper ends of the barges, so thatthey hang downstream parallel to and opposite each other the desiredbars 11., which are securely bolted to the spuds distance apart, asshown by the dotted rectangles A A in Fig. 2. The two remaining spuds oneach barge are raised and free from the river-bed. The fins'g are thenthrown out across the current by means of the crabs k. The currentstriking against these fins swings the lower ends of the barges towardeach other around the upper spud in each barge, which is driven into thebed of the river and holds the barges fast against the current. When thelower ends of the barges have swung sufficiently near each other, sothat they are only about one-half as far apart as at the upper ends,then the spuds at the lower ends and in the middle are lowered andforced into the bottom of the river, holding the barges firmly in place,so that they lay diagonally across the current, as shown in Fig. 2 byBB.

.When this has been done, the aprons b are released and dropped, so thattheir lower edges sink into the bottom of the river and .shut off thefree fiowage of the stream, forming the sides of a sluiceway, which,acting like a funnel, concentrates and hastens the current, so that itscours and washes before aprons, and spudslconnected to and operated itthe soil in the bed of the stream which is by the crabs m and the crab70 connected to just below the month of the sluiceway thus and operatingthe fins, substantially as de- I5 formed. 7 1 scribed.

5 These barges can be moved out of the way In testimony whereof I havehereunto set of navigation very quickly and be easily re-t my hand inpresence of two subscribing witplaced, so that they would not be calledan nesses. obstruction, as will be obvious.

What I claim MORRELL M. LOONEY. 10 The combination of the barges a, theiron WVitnesses: V

aprons I), and the fins g carried by said barges, WVALTER S. WOODS,

and crabs f connected to and operating said I-I. CROSBY.

